Chapter 9

*cough*... You performed quite well just now, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

When attacking, you shouldn't just focus on the opponent's openings; it's more important to constantly watch whether their hands are forming seals. At the moment you notice the opponent disappearing, you should immediately move and watch out for attacks from blind spots...

After returning to the training room, Tsuchigumo forcibly suppressed his smile and showed a hint of seriousness on his face, beginning to evaluate and give pointers to Juan on his recent fight.

Juan, on the other hand, didn't become careless just because he won easily; instead, he listened very attentively and occasionally raised some questions of his own.

His combat experience was indeed rich, but that was mainly in situations where he didn't use chakra and ninjutsu, and the opponents were also warriors without chakra and ninjutsu.

Today was his first real fight with a ninja, and he was only facing a genin.

"Alright, let's stop here for today. Go back and digest what you've learned."

Seeing that Juan didn't become proud because he defeated Kuukai, and still maintained a serious and studious attitude, Tsuchigumo felt even more satisfied.

Now he needed to develop a series of training plans for Juan, covering everything from the basic theoretical knowledge that a ninja needs to master to the learning and practical training of each ninjutsu.

After being the abbot for so many years, he felt energized once again.

After the end of the Great Ninja War, originally twelve like-minded comrades, only Kazuma and he were still alive.

Kazuma returned to Konoha, while he, feeling disheartened, returned to the Fire Temple and took over the position of abbot.

Originally, he had wanted to train and educate Sora, Kazuma's child, but a few years ago, Sora developed a physical problem that still couldn't be resolved, and he didn't dare to teach him ninjutsu anymore.

"Yes, Master!"

Juan bowed to Tsuchigumo and left the training room.

The guidance given by Tsuchigumo, with his experience and insight as an elite jounin, indeed gave him a new understanding of combat.

*Squeak.*

Closing the door of the training room, Juan walked along the corridor towards his own room.

Passing by the training ground, he noticed that the ninjas who were training would occasionally sneak glances at him, their eyes showing less jealousy and ridicule than before, and a bit more awe.

In the month since he joined the Fire Temple, he hadn't interacted much with the ninjas, not because of the difference in status, but because he felt it was unnecessary.

He joined the Fire Temple to enhance his strength, and any socializing unrelated to that goal was a waste of time.

Moreover, based on his experience in his previous life, as long as you are strong enough, others will naturally respect and kind to you. Even a simple smile can be very charming.

Back in his room, Juan continued his daily routine of chakra extraction and training.

His physique and spirit were both formidable advantages, but increasing the total amount of chakra still required spending more time in training.

For ninjas, chakra levels are determined by talent as the upper limit and effort as the lower limit.

Without talent, you can never reach the immense chakra levels like Naruto's, but if you don't work hard, you won't even have enough chakra to perform a high-level ninjutsu.

After completing the chakra extraction training, Juan adjusted his breathing and posture, and his whole body emitted a faint sound similar to a cat purring.

This was the pinnacle skill of Xingyi Gate, the resonance of the Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Bones.

In Juan's previous world, warriors would not only improve their physical fitness through normal training but also break through their limits further through standing meditation and breathing techniques.

While Mingjin warriors practiced standing meditation, Anjin practitioners focused on breathing techniques, further refining their bodies from the inside out.

The standing meditation in Xingyi Gate is called the Three-Body Standing, and the breathing technique practiced is the Tiger and Leopard Thunderous Breath.

Although Juan had already learned the chakra extraction method and started learning ninjutsu, he still didn't slack off in practicing breathing techniques.

Because physical strength is the foundation, the stronger the foundation, the more chakra can be extracted, and with chakra enhancement, greater combat power can be obtained.

Standing meditation and breathing techniques are things that don't exist in this world, and they are the fundamental methods for his leapfrog progress.

...

One month later, in the pond behind the Fire Temple.

Juan wrapped chakra around his feet and cautiously stepped on the water's surface, trying to evenly distribute the chakra to prevent himself from falling into the pond.

Since his spar with the ninja monk Kuukai at the Fire Temple, he had undergone a series of formal ninja training under Tsuchigumo's guidance.

The most important aspect of this training was academic studies, although not subjects like astronomy, geography, physics, or chemistry; Tsuchigumo believed that Juan, born a prince, would have no problem with those.

Tsuchigumo taught Juan the essentials of ninja culture and history, as well as the ethical code and philosophy that ninjas followed. This knowledge was crucial for Juan to truly understand and integrate into the world of ninjas.

Culture class, similar to identifying the types of ninja tools, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different blades in combat situations.

Understanding the various tools ninjas frequently use, such as exploding tags, soldier pills, and so on.

Learning all the ninja rules commonly spoken of by ninjas, the team strategies and formations commonly used in ninja battles, basic ninja code decryption, and the unique characteristics of ninjutsu from various major ninja villages.

As well as some common knowledge that most ninjas would know.

Much of this knowledge is useless for the ninja monks of the Fire Temple because they may never venture far from the temple in their lifetime and may never need it.

But for legitimate disciples like Juan, future elite jonin, it's definitely necessary to learn.

Otherwise, when traveling in the future, if there's a need to fight other ninjas, being ignorant of this knowledge would put them at a disadvantage from the start, and could even cost them their lives.

Tsuchigumo initially suffered from this when he left the Fire Temple to travel, including when he joined the Twelve Guardian Ninjas.

Fortunately, he was friends with Kazuma, who hailed from Konoha. Kazuma taught him many valuable ninja knowledge learned in Konoha, and he, in turn, taught Kazuma the secret ninjutsu of the Fire Temple.

Aside from cultural studies, there's also training on chakra control. Initially, it involves attaching chakra to the feet to climb trees, and then further steps include walking on water.

As for combat training, there hasn't been any since the last session.

According to Tsuchigumo, Juan's combat skills are fine for now; what he needs more is to learn cultural knowledge and chakra control to further study new ninjutsu.

Once he masters the new ninjutsu, he can then integrate them into combat through practical training to develop his own fighting style.

On this note, Juan could only sigh with relief that joining the Fire Temple was indeed the right choice.

Even in Konoha, there's unlikely to be any jonin who would have the patience and time to provide him with such detailed guidance.

Moreover, he actually doesn't understand many things about ninjas as well. His previous understanding was merely the tip of the iceberg shown in the anime he watched in his childhood.

And because it's been so long, many memories have become blurry.

"Not bad. You've made great progress in controlling chakra again."

As Juan walked step by step on the surface of the pond, Tsuchigumo approached him with several rectangular pieces of paper.